Key holder



April 1951 r J. J. PENTEK 2,550,375

KEY HOLDER Filed March 13, 1950.

Zmoentor Patented Apr. 24, 1951 2,550,375 KEY HOLDER Joseph Pcri tek,San Carlos, Calif. Application March 13, 1950,'Serial No. 149,250

2 Claims; (01. 70-450 This'invention relates to key holders,- and moreparticularly to improvements in that type of key holder which comprisesa case, a key carriage slidably disposed therein, and spring means forthe carriage adapted to retract the carriage and key, carried therebywithin the case when the key becomes slidably movable within the keybarrel of-a-zlock. 1 r

, ,Invsummary, the invention resides, in part, in that improvement in adevice of the class above mentioned enablingthe latchin of a keycarriage inzits forward position Within the case, i. e., so that the keyextends outside of the case, whereby. thekey may be manipulated withrespect to the lock with a minimum of effort, since the key is securedagainst retractile movement within the case, with said latching meansbeing operable upon the application of a pulling force to the keytending to remove the key further from the case, as; for example, whenthe key is pulled outwardly of a lock, to release the keycarriage andallow the same to beretracted rearwardly into the case to enclose thekey therein. Additional improvements reside in the provision of a keycase comprised of complementary sections, with the guide slot for thethumb contactable button of the carriage .beingformed by thecomplementary edges forming a side ofeach of the case sections,

and, further, the provision of means enablin the ready securing of a keyto the carriage after the carriage has been assembled and enclosedwithin the case of the holder, said means comprising an aperture in thecarriagealignable with an aperture through the-wall of the case toenable the introduction of an attachment stud through thecase apertureand into the carriage aperture to securea, key to the carriage. Furtherdetails of the invention parent from the following description taken inconjunction'with the drawings forming part of thisspecification, and inwhich: 7 s

Figure 1 is a.view inside elevation of the key holder embodyingtheinvention; -;Figure,2 is a View in side elevation of the key holderwiththe top section of .the case removed;

,Figure 3 is: a view in section taken along lines 3-3 of Figure 2, butshowing the key tocarriage fastening means in place; i Figure 4 is aview in side elevation showing the inside of the top section of the keyholder cases 1 a Figure 5 is a view in bottom elevation of the keyholder of Figure 1;and V ,,Fig1.1re 6 is. a view insection'taken alonglines will be ap- Referring to the drawing for more details of theinvention, the key holder comprises a bottom case section II] and a topcase section I2 complementary thereto. The bottom case It! ischaracterized by a pair ofoppositely disposed semi-wells l4, an elongaterecess. 16 at the inside of the upper side wall, an upstanding'guide ribI8 extending around the rearward portion of the side walls, of thecasesection andserving as positional attachment means for the top casesection l2, a boss 20 having a rivet aperture 22 therethrough, abox-like rib structure 24, an elongate groove 26, an aperture 28 throughthe wall of the case, a smaller aperture 30 for key chain attachmentpurposes, and cleats 32 serving in conjunction with the rib [8 topositionally secure the case sections In and I2 together when they arejuxtaposed.

A key carriage indicated generally at 34 is slidably disposed withincase section Ill and a spring 36 secured at one end as by a rivet 38 tothe carriage and having a loop at its other end in sleeved relation tothe boss 20 serves to yieldingly retain the carriage in the positionshown in Figure 2; The bottom case and carriage assembly, before theattachment to the bottom case of the top case sectionl2, furthercomprises a coil spring 40 clipped over the forward side of the box-liketructure 24 so that the rearward end of the spring is within thebox-like structure and the forward end extends forwardly thereof toserve as a resilient bumper when the carriage 34 is retracted by thespring 36 to the position of Figure 2. The lowerside- Wall of casesection 10 is provided with a relatively deep notch 42 within whichv alatching stud 44 is fitted so that the enlarged inner end 46 of the studprevents axial withdrawal of the stud from the notch 42; A spring 48sleeved on the shank of stud 44 and incontact With the under side of thehead of the stud and the outer surface of the case section I 0 serves tomaintain the stud in a retracted position with'respect to the interiorof the case section.

j The bottom case and carriage assembly, as thus described, is convertedto the complete key holder by the attachment thereto of the top casesection [2, said latter section comprising semi- Wells 50 complementaryto the semi-wells l4 of the bottom case section H), a boss and aperture52 and 54, respectively, complementary -to the corresponding elements 20and 22 of the bottom case section, an aperture 56 complementary to theaperture 30 of the bottom case section, an elongate groove 51, and anaperture '58 through the wall of the top case section adapted to be inalignment with the corresponding aperture 28 of the bottom case sectionwhen the sections are secured together in complementary relation. Thecase section I2 is also provided with a niblike member 60 adapted to bereceived within the notch 42 of the bottom case section when the twocase sections are placed in complementary relation to retain the stud 44against any appreciable lateral movement.

When the top case section is juxtaposed to the bottom case section I0,any forward motion by way of slippage of the section with respect to thesection I2 is prevented by the rib it, while any rearward slippage ofthe section [2 with respect to the case It] is prevented by the cleats32 which fit within the case atpositions indicated by 62 in Figure 4.Rivets 64 are then passed through the aligned semi-wells l4 and 5t; andaligned apertures 22 and--54, and these rivets are then upset to securethe case sections together. Whenthe sections areso secured together thebosses: 20 and 52 are in engagement with each other, thus-preventingthe'spring 36 from working free of the boss 2f! during operation or useof the key holder. A suitable attachmentchain, not shown, may be passedthrough the aligned aperturesBiI-and 56.

As indicated by. Figures 1-3, the carriage 34 is provided with a thumbknobor button 8% integral with the carriageproper through the neck orreduced'sect-i'on portion 68, slidable within the slot formedby theelongate recess It of case section: lfi'and the'adjacentedge of casesection I2; A rib-Hl'at one side of the carriage anda boss '12 of -theotherside thereof" serve as'means =for guiding the movement ofthecarriage with respect to the case. The carriage is also provided with anaperture l l adaptedto receive-a screw-l3; and a-hexagonal-recessfll?in; oneside of the carriage adaptedto receive-a" nut Silfor the securingof the screw tor-the carriage; The'head of the screw 'l-fi-is-slightlysmaller than the-aperture 58 andregistrabletherewith by a slidablepositioning; of the carriage-34 within the case, While the hexagonalrecess 18- issimilarly registrable with the aperture 2 8 of case sectionii]. A; key iii-may be secured to the-carriage 34-after thekey holderis-fully assembled by thesimple expedient-of'slidingthe carriage toalignthe screw 16 and nut 80 with their respective case-apertures 58-and 28;unfastening the screw and removing the same, inserting. the head of akey within the mouth of the case against the side surface 84 of thecarriage to align the aperture of the key withthe case apertures 28 and58 and the carriage aperture l4, and re-engaging the screw lfi with nut80. The elongate recesses 25 and 51 are for the accommodation of thehead of screw 'lfiand for the outer portion of nut 89 which protrudesslightly from the .face of the-carriage.

From the foregoing description it will-be-clear that the-key 82 may beinserted within the igni tion switch of an automobile, forexample',-byapplying the thumb to the-button B6-and forcing the carriage34 forwardl-y in the case againstthe action of spring 36 to unsheath thekey. Upon insertion of the ke within the ignition switch and the turning.of the switch to the on position the-engagement of the key, in the lockwill prevent spring urged withdrawal of the; key within thecase: Whenthe key-is turned'in the ignition'switch-to niove-theswitch to the offposition, the key. isthen' relatively freely slidably m va l i l c m hes r 3,6:them5ervc's 4 to withdraw the key from the ignition switch, withthe force of the spring urged return of the carriage Within the casebeing absorbed by the spring 40.

When the carriage has been moved forwardly to unsheath the key to asufficient degree so that the rearward end 86 of the carriage is locatedslightly forwardly of the stud 44, the stud 44 may be, urged inwardlyofthe case against the action of spring 48 to become engaged with therearward edge of the carriage and prevent the spring urged return of thesame. The force of spring 36 tending to return carriage 34 within thecase as applied transversely to the axis of stud 44 is sufiicient toprevent the spring 48 from withdrawing the stud from its latchingposition with respect to the carriage. The case then serves in effect asa fixed carrier or handle for the extended key, enabling a ready andefficient manipulation of the key with respect to thelo'ck'. When'thecarriageis' in this latched condition and the ignition switch is turnedto the off position, the spring: 36 will not be effective to retract thekey from the lock. However, when the case is-grasp'ed and pulled towardthe operator to remove the key from the lock, the fric tiona-lengagement between the lock and key is normally such as to enable aslight rearward movement of the case before the withdrawing movement" ofthe key 'takes' place. This serves to move the carriage 34 forwardly ofthe stud 44, thus freeing the stud" 44' for retraction from the returnpath of the carriage'by meansof" the spring 43; When this hasoccurre'd,the spring 36- will'- snap the carriage S'4 an'd ke'y 82cai'rie'd.thereby into.- sheathe'd relatiori'w'ith' the case.

While a preferred embodiment or the key holder of the invention has beenshown-and de'-' scribed, it is to be-understood-tha-t'all substantialequivalents of said embodiment a're within the scope of the invention.

What- I- claimasnew and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1-. A- key holder comprising a" case having' an opening at itsforwardend; a key carriage-slidably disposed therein and having a manualcon-- trolmember extending through a." guide" slot formed.- inthe case;a-springforming a" c'onnec= tion between said carriage andsaidca'se'oper able to urge said carriage? rearwardly in" the case; catchmeans carried by the case" and adaptedto be movedinwardly into the path"of movement of said carriage after said carriage has- -beenslidably"moved forwardly of said catch means towardwhe-open end of said case toretain" said carriage against rearward movement by said spring, andspring means associated with said catch-means and said case operable'tomove said:catchmeains =ol1t' of tlie'path of said" car'- riageinresponse to a'further'forward movement of said carriage to-b'ring? saidcarriage out of engagement with said=catch means.

2. A key holder comprising acase having an opening at its; forward-end;a' key" carriage slidably; disposed therein andhaving a manual-cor!-trol member; extenlhng.- through a* guide slot formed in the case; aspringformin'g a connection between said carriage 'and"saidcase'operableto' urge 'sa-id 'carriage rearwardly in the "case, a memberextending through said case" and car ried by said case for limitedmovement trans versely of the p'athiof *m'ove'ment'of said carriage,said member being operableupon it's movement inwardly of said case aftersaid-carriage has *been yieldingly urged forwardly of saidrme'r'nlfierto5 ward the open end of said case to block rearward movement of saidcarriage therepast, the spring-pressed engagement of said carriage withsaid member serving to retain said member in such carriage-blockingposition, and spring means for said member operable when the springpressure applied through said carriage to said member is relieved tomove said member outwardly of said case to free said carriage forretractile movement.

.JOSEPH J. PENTEK.

6 7 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,701,771 Stefano Feb. 12, 19291,745,836 Miller et a1 Feb. 4, 1930 2,076,895 Johnston Apr. 13, 19372,176,863 Nash Oct. 17, 1939 2,484,547 Bishop Oct. 11, 1949 2,500,198Mullan Mar. 14, 1950

